Often touted as Mani Ratnam’s best work (and one of only two entries from India in Time's Top 100 movies till 2005 list), Nayakan was long on my To-watch list. The movie is a gangster-drama set in 60’s-80’s Bombay, revolving around Sakthivelu, a union worker's son, who is forced to flee to Bombay from Tamil Nadu after his father is shot down by the Tamil Nadu police. The movie is inspired by an actual Bombay underworld gangster named Varadarajan Mudaliar, but Mani Ratnam also slips in some homages to The Godfather (and a small one to Amitabh Bachchan’s Deewar).

Believing his father's last words of ‘it's alright to commit a bad deed if it's to do good for someone’ as gospel, Velu (as he is affectionately known throughout the movie) rises from humble beginnings in Dharavi to become one of the biggest mob bosses in Bombay. The movie focuses on his rise to the summit in the criminal underworld and counterbalances it against the losses he suffers in his personal life time and again; all culminating into a rather poignant, but slightly predictable, ending.

Given the hype which surrounds the movie to this day, I came away slightly disappointed with the movie overall. That's not to say that the movie is a bad one. Just that I would not place it very high on the list of great gangster movies. There are some obvious aspects that mark the movie as a cut above the rest. However, I feel that it fails to stand up to the test of time in some other aspects. For instance, the editing at the beginning of the movie seems a bit haphazard as we jump from one scene to another a bit quickly. While the movie settles down after about 30 minutes or so, the beginning still leaves a slightly sour note. The overall story also seems a tad underwhelming at times and tends to lag in its pacing in the middle.

However, this movie has more positives than negatives. While I did complain about the story earlier, it is nevertheless quite gripping for most of the movie. Mani Ratnam masterfully captures Velu's anguish as he vacillates between making the right choice and the one that adheres to his father's gospel. Most of the characters that he has captured on the screen are quite believable and grounded. The push and pull between Velu's work life and personal life is also a fascinating watch. I guess, the movie also takes a small pass at the anti-Tamilian rhetoric that existed in Bombay at that time, though, Mani Ratnam cleverly uses it to build up the character of Velu rather than sermonizing. Similarly, [spoiler] Velu marrying a Neela, a prostitute, is a great commentary relevant even in today's time.[/spoiler]

PC Sreeram's cinematography is quite great at times. The movie does a great job of capturing Bombay from a Tamilian's perspective during those times.

Ilaiyaraaja's score is haunting at times, so is the main theme song associated with Velu. There were a couple of songs that I did not like too much, especially their placement. However, overall, the score tends to elevate the scenes (as it is meant to) rather than drag them down. Incidentally, this was Ilaiyaraaja's 400th movie score.

Coming down to the acting, Kamal Haasan steals the show. I haven't seen a lot of Kamal Haasan movies, but this is definitely his best performance from the ones that I have seen so far. He is majestic, restrained, menacing, and heartbreakingly lonely when needed. The scenes with [spoiler] the death of his son and where he meets his grandson [/spoiler] are two of the best ones in the movie. Saranya as Neela and Karthika as Charumathi hold their own under the shadow of Kamal's magnificence, I found the actors playing Surya and Selvam to be quite OK and nothing more. Rest of the cast is just a supporting one, and does a decent job.

Overall, the biggest incentive to watch this movie is Ilaiyaraaja's score and, more importantly, Kamal Haasan's great performance.